Baran's supporters have argued he was the victim of a nationwide hysteria in the 1980s involving child abuse prosecutions of day care owners and workers. His supporters also attacked investigators' methods of interviewing children at the day-care center, arguing the methods led to false allegations. Baran said he never considered admitting to crimes he didn't commit, just to make things easier in prison. ``One thing I take solace in is that I know I never hurt any children,'' he said. Baran's case came about after a parent learned that Baran was openly gay. She said she didn't want ``a queer'' working with her child, and later called police alleging abuse. Another parent soon said her daughter was abused. During the investigation, state social workers went to the day care center and staged a puppet show for children, demonstrating the difference between good and bad touches. After the show, two boys said they saw Baran touch the other. ... http://www.guardian.co.uk

The former Bosnian Muslim commander at Srebrenica has been found guilty of war crimes against Bosnian Serbs. Naser Oric was convicted by The Hague war crimes tribunal of failing to prevent men under his command killing and mistreating Bosnian Serb prisoners. He was sentenced to two years in jail, but will be freed as he has already spent three years behind bars. The incidents took place from 1992-93, before the 1995 Bosnian Serb massacre of nearly 8,000 Srebrenica Muslims. Oric, an ex-bodyguard to former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, is one of only a few Bosnian Muslims to have faced trial for atrocities committed against Serbs. The prosecution had demanded an 18-year prison sentence, claiming Oric was a warlord who plundered a starving Serb community that was pleading for help. But correspondents say many Bosnian Muslims regard him as a hero, and believe the decision to prosecute him was made to counter complaints by Serbs that the tribunal was biased against them...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5132684.stm

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya has denounced Israel's offensive in Gaza as an attempt to bring down the Hamas-led government. In his first public address since Israel's campaign began, Mr Haniya said Hamas would not change its policies. He also said the Israeli attacks were making negotiations on the release of a captured soldier more difficult. His statement came as Israel continued to target militants, with an air strike hitting a car on the outskirts of Gaza. Those targeted are believed to belong to the Islamic Jihad group. Three people were wounded in the strike, Palestinian medical sources say. ...http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41831000/jpg/_41831972_ministry_getty_203body.jpg

The US government said it could not find the men that Guantánamo detainee Abdullah Mujahid believes could help set him free. The Guardian found them in three days.Two years ago the US military invited Mr Mujahid, a former Afghan police commander accused of plotting against the United States, to prove his innocence before a special military tribunal. As was his right, Mr Mujahid called four witnesses from Afghanistan.But months later the tribunal president returned with bad news: the witnesses could not be found. Mr Mujahid's hopes sank and he was returned to the wire-mesh cell where he remains today. The Guardian searched for Mr Mujahid's witnesses and found them within three days. One was working for President Hamid Karzai. Another was teaching at a leading American college. The third was living in Kabul. The fourth, it turned out, was dead. Each witness said he had never been approached by the Americans to testify in Mr Mujahid's hearing....http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,,1809981,00.html?gusrc=rss

Some saw the beginning of the end for Guantanamo Bay, others a vindication for Europeans who have condemned the U.S. prison camp in Cuba. The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling yesterday that President Bush overstepped his authority in ordering military trials for a few Guantanamo Bay detainees provoked a variety of reactions, including jubilation and deep skepticism. Jose Diaz, spokesman for U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said, "The decision is a case of restoring the judiciary to its proper place in a system of checks and balances, which is essential in upholding the rule of law." London-based human rights group Amnesty International, one of the most vocal critics of the detention center, hailed the ruling as "a victory for the rule of law and human rights." Attorneys for the detainees who have been charged said the ruling could be the beginning of the end of the prison camp. ...http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060629-102755-9023r.htm

Hours after her second child was born, 19-year-old Helena Ferencikova's joy was dashed. In the recovery room, she discovered that the paper she had signed, not knowing what it said, had allowed doctors to sterilize her. The Vitkovicka hospital in the country's northeast says further pregnancies might have killed her. But Miss Ferencikova thinks the reason was her ethnicity -- Gypsy. Now a court ruling and a high-profile official inquiry have backed her up, and the country is having to confront the charge that an abuse many thought had died with communism is still being practiced. The uproar goes to the broader issue of entrenched European prejudice toward Gypsies -- or Roma as they prefer to be called -- especially in the former communist bloc, where most of the Continent's 7 million to 9 million Gypsies are concentrated. ...http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060624-113656-7475r.htm